How can I be 'critical' when I'm reading?

At university, you are often encouraged to be ‘critical’ in your thinking, reading and writing. What does this mean? Critical thinking seeks to open up and challenge existing knowledge rather than to reproduce it – and this is what you have to bear in mind when you are reading.Note: the word ‘critical’ is used differently in academic language than in everyday language. In everyday usage, it implies judging negatively (as in ‘criticism’); in academic usage, it means ‘questioning’ or ‘challenging’ (as in ‘critique’). When you think critically, it doesn’t mean you have to find fault with everything, rather you seek to question or challenge.

As you read you need to:

interpret: understand the significance of data and clarify its meaning

analyse: break information down and recombine it in different ways

reason: develop a point of view through logical steps

evaluate: judge the worth, credibility or strength of the text

Critical reading requires you to be an active reader – thinking about and responding to the assertions and arguments made by the writer. You should look for assumptions and omissions, and you should imagine asking the author ‘How do you know?’ You should assess:

At first you may have to rely largely on other experts in the field to see what critiques have been made; as you become more knowledgeable you can increasingly rely on your own ideas. A critical approach is important so that you can: